4 Of The Best Herbal Coffee Alternatives
Need your daily cup of coffee but had enough of the anxiety-inducing side effects? Well, you’re not alone. Coffee alternatives have come a long way in recent years, providing a tasty and healthy substitute for your favourite coffee blend.
While we’re not claiming that these alternatives taste exactly like traditional coffee, they are your best shot at slowly weaning yourself off your coffee addiction and lowering your daily caffeine intake. We recommend starting with mostly coffee and only adding a little of your chosen herbal alternative, before slowly increasing the amount of herbal coffee over time and decreasing the regular coffee.
Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying a full serving of herbal coffee every day, free of those nasty side effects that so many of us suffer from. So, here are our picks for IV of the best herbal coffee alternatives on the market today.
- Dandelion root coffee
Dandelion root coffee, often containing extracts from sugar beet, roasted barley and rye, is one of the richest and most full-bodied coffee alternatives. It’s full of nutritional benefits, with plenty of vitamin A, C, D and D as well as potassium, iron and zinc.
With floral notes and hints of sweetness, dandelion root coffee has similarities to traditional coffee but without the acidity and bitterness. Preliminary research has also shown that it can improve liver function, encourage weight loss and help maintain skin vitality. Dandelion tea is commonly found in health food and herbal stores and is often used by people who are detoxifying from drugs or alcohol.
- Chicory root coffee
Chicory root coffee has long been a popular coffee alternative throughout Europe, and has now finally made its way around the rest of the world. Renowned for its remarkably similar flavour to traditional coffee, chicory coffee has a combination of nutty, warm, earthy and woody notes. It also blends well with many of the other coffee alternatives explored in this article, making a delicious-tasting concoction to start your day with. One of chicory coffee’s biggest strengths is that it contains the naturally occurring agent inulin, which helps add some extra body to its mixture.
As well as its spectacular taste, chicory root coffee also comes with a variety of health benefits that continue to make it so popular with drinkers around the world. An excellent source of fibre, vitamins B6 and C, manganese, potassium, folate and phosphorus, it offers neurological benefits, assists in blood flow and can also help with weight loss and gut health.
- Ayurvedic roast
With ingredients that include roasted barley, rye and chicory as well as Ayurvedic herbs such as Ashwagandha, Shatavari and Brahmi, Ayurvedic roast coffee can be brewed just like traditional coffee. Although it doesn’t taste exactly like coffee as you know it, it mimics the same deep flavour and has a smoothness and richness that help make it so popular.
The herbs mentioned above also offer a range of their own unique benefits. Ashwagandha promotes strength and stability and is an antioxidant. Shatavari has similar benefits to ashwagandha and has a cooling effect on the body. Finally, Brahmi is believed to alleviate stress and provide clarity, helping to maintain alertness while soothing the mind.
- Barley herbal tea coffee
Known for its earthy, nutty and bitter flavour, barley herbal tea coffee is another option that resembles the taste of traditional. It can also be roasted to bring out an even darker flavour and is often said to be a middle ground between coffee and tea. With the ability to be enjoyed either hot or cold, barley tea is often enjoyed as a refreshing drink in the summertime in Korea and Japan.
Barley tea is known to help treat high cholesterol levels in men and gallstones in women and also aid with digestive issues and cramps. It also contains melatonin, amino acids and tryptophan, which when brought together can help you sleep better too.
